I have no idea what i'm doing, but I did make dinner.

I had been trying to perfect my fried recipe recipe for over a year, no joke. Every time, I got a little closer, but not quite. Then finally, the stars aligned and I perfected homemade fried rice! You can serve it plain as a side, or with the protein of your choice. I like to do shrimp because if you get it cooked, shelled and deveined, all you have to do is toss it in at the end, saves you a little work. I’ve made it with chicken too and it’s awesome and totally worth the little extra work. Alright, let’s get cooking.

Ingredients, assemble!!!

First note, the rice. It turns out best if you cook it the day before and refrigerate it until you’re ready to cook dinner the next day. This lets the rice dry out and gives it a good texture once its fried. So, if you’re making something with rice, make extra and plan on having fried rice the next day, or just cook a pot of rice the day before and stick it in the fridge. I have used brown rice and white rice with this recipe, and you really can’t tell the difference, so i’d recommend using brown just for the health benefit. Second, don’t skip on the sesame oil. You don’t use a lot, but it adds a layer of flavor that makes the rice taste just like takeout! I used to avoid recipes that required ingredients I didn’t have on hand because I thought it would be too expensive, but that bottle of sesame oil cost me less than three dollars, and lasts for a while. Worth it.

Also of note, you don’t need a wok for this. I have a wok, and I make a total mess trying to fry four cups of rice. I use my favorite deep saute pan. Less mess, and I find that I get more even cooking on the rice because of the extra surface area on the bottom.

Next, prep your ingredients. Fried rice is fast-paced cooking, so you’ll want to have everything ready to dump in the pan. This is what my counter looked like before I started cooking.

I didn’t get many pictures while I was cooking because, like I said, it cooks fast. Here’s the few I did manage to snap, so you can see what the process looks like at least. It’s basically just adding ingredients and stirring until everything is in the pot.

Aaaaand, finished product:

Yum! If you’re a fan of fried rice, I would definitely give this recipe a try. It’s so, so good.

Turn the heat on your burner up to high. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, melt, then start adding rice by the handful, stirring in between to mix everything well and saturate the rice with the butter. Fry rice for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly.